[07/16/07 - 11:34 AM]NBC Announces Updates on New Scripted Series Projects and Universal Media Studios Creative Deals for 2007-08The pacts include an exclusive, first-look deal with independent film producer Charles Corwin ("Half Nelson," "The Squid and the Whale") with Universal Media Studios and NBC, and the drama pilot "Backyards and Bullets," with Emmy winner Charles McDougall ("The Tudors") as director and executive producer.

[via press release from NBC]

NBC ANNOUNCES UPDATES ON NEW SCRIPTED SERIES PROJECTS AND UNIVERSAL MEDIA STUDIOS CREATIVE DEALS FOR 2007-08

Announcements Include Independent Film Producer Charles Corwin ("Half Nelson," "The Squid and the Whale"), Who Signs Exclusive, First-look Deal with Universal Media Studios and NBC

Drama Pilot "Backyards and Bullets" Added to Development Plans

Michelle Nader ("King of Queens") Also Joins Comedy Pilot "Kath & Kim" as Executive Producer While Gary Scott Thompson (NBC's "Las Vegas") Is Named as Executive Producer of U.S. English-language Version of Telenovela "Sin Tetas No Hay Paraiso"

BEVERLY HILLS, Calif. -- July 16, 2007 -- Ben Silverman, Co-Chairman, NBC Entertainment and Universal Media Studios, today made several announcements regarding some of NBC's new scripted series projects for 2007-08, including an exclusive, first-look deal with independent film producer Charles Corwin ("Half Nelson," "The Squid and the Whale") with Universal Media Studios and NBC, and the drama pilot "Backyards and Bullets," with Emmy winner Charles McDougall ("The Tudors") as director and executive producer.

In addition, Silverman named Michelle Nader ("King of Queens"), who joins the comedy pilot "Kath & Kim" as executive producer and also named Gary Scott Thompson (NBC's "Las Vegas") as executive producer of the U.S. English-language version of the Colombian telenovela "Sin Tetas No Hay Paraiso/Without Breasts There Is No Paradise" (working title).

"We are looking to take bold steps in our development slate and these are only a few of our ambitious efforts that are in the creative pipeline," said Silverman. "As is evident, these programs are in different stages of development and are indicative of the fact that we are aggressively targeting a variety of arenas and talents."

Details of the scripted projects and creative deals follow:

Corwin joins Universal Media Studios and NBC after producing the independent film "The Squid and the Whale," which received Oscar, Golden Globe and Independent Spirit Award nominations, and won Sundance Film Festival Awards. He also was executive producer of "Half Nelson" (starring Oscar nominee Ryan Gosling). He served as executive producer on the recent cable reality series "Miami Ink" and the upcoming "Storm Chasers" and is executive producer of the upcoming series "L.A. Ink."

In the drama pilot "Backyards & Bullets" (working title), the bucolic suburb of Ridgeview, Wisconsin seems like the perfect place to live: pristinely manicured lawns, friendly hellos and a community that looks out for its own. But big-city crime is spilling into the bedroom town, forcing Ridgeview's Neighborhood Watch group to take matters into their own hands. In this light look at a new form of suburban justice, Lonnie -- the new Chief Detective -- finds himself in a world where blackmail and murder walk hand-in-hand with recycling, barbeques and soccer games. Ed Decter & John Strauss (both for "There's Something About Mary," "The Santa Clause") are the writers and executive producers; Jamie Tarses, Charles McDougall ("The Tudors") and Gavin Polone also are executive producers. Emmy Award winner McDougall ("Desperate Housewives") is the director of the pilot, which is produced by Sony Television and Pariah.

Michelle Nader ("King of Queens") becomes executive producer of "Kath & Kim," a comedy pilot adapted from Australia's hit comedy -- a look into the minutiae of middle-class suburbia that digs deep into the daily lives of Kath, a cheerful, forty-something divorcee, and her obscenely self-absorbed daughter, Kim. It's the love and hate, push and pull, of the dysfunctional relationship only a mother and daughter could share. Original series creators and stars Gina Riley and Jane Turner will serve as executive producers of the pilot along with fellow executive producers Nader and Rick McKenna. The series is a production from Reveille for Universal Media Studios.

Thompson, the creator and executive producer of "Las Vegas" since its premiere in 2003, also wrote the hit feature film "The Fast and the Furious." The previously announced "Sin Tetas" telenovela is based on a best-selling, true-to-life novel of the same name that tells the story of Catalina, a young woman seduced by a world of easy-money, who agonizes that her figure is a barrier to deliverance from poverty and a pampered life as a drug-trafficker's lover. NBC Universal and Telemundo acquired the rights to "Sin Tetas No Hay Paraiso" from Colombian production company, Canal Caracol.